Vladislav Babuska, PhD 

• Passed: 30 March 2021
• Age: 84
• Cause: Unknown 
• Discipline/Focus/Section: Seismology/Mineral and Rock Physics
• Institution/Organization: Geophysical Institute of the Czech Academy of Science (Emeritus, Retired)
• Thoughts & Tributes: In Memoriam.
• About: In 1967, Vladislav Babuška graduated with a Ph.D. in petrophysics from Charles University in Prague. In 1969-70, he was a Research Fellow in Francis Birch’s laboratory at Harvard University. As a top scientific and organizational authority who understood the need for multidisciplinary approach in Earth sciences, he served as Secretary of the UNESCO International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) in Paris in 1992-1998. At home he had served as the Chair of the Czech National Committee for Geology, and several terms as a member of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Geophysics and of the Institute of Geology. Dr. Babuška spent more than 50 years in the seismology department of the Geophysical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences [ČSAV] in Prague. He was a leading personality highly recognized in both domestic and international community in the field of research of deep Earth structure, petrophysics and seismology. During his career he accomplished extraordinary results in solving a wide range of scientific problems and has directly influenced corresponding research and shaped present views on creation and development of the system of continental lithosphere and asthenosphere. His pioneering role in the study of seismic anisotropy, from laboratory experiments of elastic anisotropy of rock samples with Zdeněk Pros through seismic anisotropy of the Earth’s crustal and mantle structures on continental and global scales with Jaroslava Plomerová is recognized world-wide. At the ČSAV, he pursued active research, initially focusing on the elasticity of natural rocks with Zdeněk Pros using a novel technique to fabricate spherical specimens. His pioneering role in the study of seismic anisotropy, from laboratory experiments of elastic anisotropy of rock samples through seismic anisotropy of the Earth’s crustal and mantle structures on continental and global scales, is recognized world-wide. With his colleague, Jaroslava Plomerová, he developed an interest in the anisotropy and lateral heterogeneity of the lithosphere, and published many papers on this topic. In collaboration with their colleague Vlastimil Červený and Bob Liebermann from Stony Brook, they convened a series of decadal international workshops in the Czech Republic focused on anisotropy and inhomogeneity of the lithosphere and asthenosphere” and convened at castles used by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences”; Anisotropy and Heterogeneity of the Lithosphere at Castle of Liblice, Czechoslovakia, June 1976; Anisotropy and Inhomogeneity of the Lithosphere and Asthenosphere at Castle of Bechyně, Czechoslovakia, September 1986; Geodynamics of Lithosphere and Earth’s Mantle: Seismic Anisotropy as a Record of the Past and Present Dynamic Processes at the Castle of Třešt, Czechoslovakia, June 1996. By locating these workshops in the Czech Republic workshop in Eastern Europe, many scientists from countries in the Eastern Bloc could attend.